


Pale Leanings

by Milky Maelstrom (milkymaelstrom)



Category: Homestuck
Genre: Comfort, Cuddling and Snuggling, Cute, Fluff, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-12-08
Updated: 2011-12-08
Packaged: 2017-10-27 01:59:42
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,764
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/290429
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/milkymaelstrom/pseuds/Milky%20Maelstrom
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Done for a request on the kink meme.</p><p>Karkat has an unfortunate 'accident' after falling asleep and coming face to face with something horrorterrible. Gamzee comes to his rescue and proceeds to calm him down until everything is chuckle nuggets and nothing hurts.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Pale Leanings

Karkat hadn't wanted to sleep. No, he wanted to stay up like a good leader should. He would be the one nudging others if they nodded off, or kicking the backs of their chairs if he didn't particularly like them. And hell, he should have been more than used to it by now. He could count the number of hours he'd slept throughout the entirety of SGRUB on his fingers and toes. Still, everyone has their breaking point, and as he sat in front of his computer in the lab, he was quickly approaching his own.  


 

No one had pestered him for quite a while. While there was no nocturnal shift in the core, for there was no sun to set, one could tell when 'night' had fallen by how quiet it became. Only a handful of other trolls were still in the lab, the rest of them having retreated to their respiteblocks some time ago. They weren't sleeping, at least they weren't supposed to be, but they could be doing any number of things. That odd cat troll was probably scrawling on a wall or something. The sweaty one would be tinkering with his deathbots. Still, some of his fellows were just as restless as he was, Eridan and Sollux glaring daggers at each other between bouts of furious typing. Their hate-flirting had become much more overt now that neither of them were well-rested. The tarry tension in the air was almost palpable, at least to those who were really awake.  


 

Vantas certainly wasn't. He was beyond the point of even realizing what he was doing, his talons looming over his keyboard, occasionally pawing at the mouse to go bother one of the humans. He couldn't even comprehend that he was exhausted anymore. The actual process of knowing what he was doing, scolding himself for it, and trying to remain awake was no longer something he could manage. So, after a long bob forward, his head collapsed to the desk with a solid thud as though he had been knocked out cold.  


 

When his eyes opened, he was in a very familiar place. With the walls plastered with rom-com posters and a guttural grumble drifting up from the ground floor, he knew he was home again. Could it really be? Could everything he had just been through, every torturous moment of it, been a dream? It seemed too good to be true and yet, as the picked himself up off the floor, everything was so utterly real.  


 

He wasn't sure why exactly he had found himself waking up outside of his recuperacoon, but maybe he had just gotten tired. Or suffered from a massive aneurysm. Considering what he had just imagined, the latter seemed to make more sense. Still, whatever had happened, he was just glad that the nightmare was over. It wouldn't be a dream he could just brush off, and it certainly would be relayed to the others, but it's lack of a certain startling REALNESS attribute pulled a sigh from him. He couldn't imagine having lost his lusus in reality. He couldn't imagine his whole world, everything he knew and loved beyond his meager less-than-a-dozen friends, having been annihilated. The thought was too sour for him to even ponder.  


 

So, with what could almost be called a smile, he left his room and headed downstairs, meeting his lusus at the entrance to the kitchen. The great white beast, its massive claws clicking anxiously, growled, but Karkat paid it no mind, papping its forehead as he passed. The beast, now cocking its head in confusion, let his charge by without the customary custodial strife.  


 

Passing the fridge, on which a doodle of his lusus was hung, he went to the sink and plucked a glass from the counter, cleaning it with the hem of his shirt. Being unconscious was thirsty work. Flicking the tap, he filled his cup to the brim without even turning it off, the soft hiss of water hitting metal comforting to his ears. Then, as he brought the cup to his lips, the sound ceased. Ears perking, he looked down, briefly wondering if he had neglected to pay the water bill. If only it was that simple.  


 

The faucet was still and silent for a moment, then began to rattle. A sick squelching sound reverberated up the pipes and filled the kitchen with stomach-turning sound, like uncooked meat being squished under the heel of a boot. Unable to move or even look away, Karkat watched as the rattling grew more violent and the sick sound louder, until a drop of something viscous and reeking dripped from the faucet.  


 

Drawn by some sort of morbid curiosity, Vantas reached out with his free hand and prodded the drop with one finger, a long string of the vile substance threading itself from his finger to the sink when he retracted. Then, as though overcome by some malevolent force, the drop wrapped itself around his fingers, sticking them together. He jumped as another drop leaked from the sink and landed on his sleeve, coming to life as well and coiling around his wrist. The faucet began to leak the substance, fixing his hand to the bottom of the sink, no matter how hard he tried to wrench away. When a long, slender tentacle of the goo emerged, he knew that this was no longer the regular reality in which he had been so glad to awaken. He wasn't sure where he was, or what was happening, but his dreams of procrastinating the day away with his terrible coding, of bothering the spiderbitch, of strifing with his custodian, were quashed in an instant.  


 

Knowing he was doomed, he opened his mouth to scream and finally dropped the glass, which shattered on impact with the counter and doused him in water and glass shards. The sound of the cup smashing was the last thing he heard before he opened his eyes once more, this time to a much darker reality.  


 

He was back in the core, laying on the ground. As soon as he was aware of his surroundings, his hand flew to the back of his head, cradling a large welt that had risen on his crown from a strike. Over him stood Eridan, his fist raised to deliver another ringed blow, but his stance went lax when he saw Karkat was finally awake.  


 

Already hissing and cursing and baring his teeth, Karkat stood up, about to beat the living hell out of the pompous sea-dweller, who was babbling on about Karkat screaming in his sleep, when he felt a distracting sensation. His lap was warm and wet, the fabric of his pants now sticking to his skin. He could feel himself flush as he turned away, trying to hide the fact that he had wet himself from a nightmare. Eridan tried to quell his giggling but failed, bursting into a fit of cruel laughter until he was almost doubled over in pain. Vantas, who was almost at the point of tears as well, though for a very different reason, swallowed nervously, cursing himself over and over in his head for falling asleep like a total fucking idiot.  


 

Then, the violet troll's laughter stopped, causing him to turn his head and look, where his eyes had been shut tightly in embarrassment. Towering over Ampora was Karkat's best friend, the sopor-swelled indigo-blood. His hand was firmly planted on Eridan's back, making him hush. His other hand extended out to Karkat, who shook his head at first, until prodded further. Finally, seeing that Gamzee was his only way out that didn't involve a solitary walk of shame, he took his hand and was led away.  
Makara didn't say a single word as he led Vantas back to his own respiteblock. It wasn't a far walk, but every step was vastly uncomfortable to Karkat, and not just because his pants were soaked. He wasn't sure what was happening, but it wasn't as though there was any better alternative. He could break off and go to his own block, but that would only culminate in a few hours of angry scolding and banging his head against the wall.  


 

When they reached his block, Gamzee finally let go of his hand and entered, closing the door behind his friend and heading over to a chest full of his clothes. After digging through the unorganized box, he tossed Karkat a pair of spotted sweats. The cherry-blood rubbed the fabric between his forefinger and thumb, still flushed, but said nothing.  


 

“Come on, best friend,” Gamzee finally encouraged him. “You don't wanna stay in those wet pants, do ya?”  


 

Karkat hung his head and blushed further, unable to look Makara in the eye. Though he knew the troll was doing this out of kindness, he couldn't shake the feeling that he was being made fun of.  


 

“Or would you rather wash up first?” Gamzee suggest.  


 

Vantas just nodded, still too flustered to say a word. Leading him by the wrist, the Capricorn took him to the bathroom, showing him the ablution trap and even turning on the hot water for him.  


 

“Gimme your pants,” Makara said, holding out his hands, “I'll wash 'em for ya.”  


 

“I don't-”  


 

“Nah, man, it's no problem. I gotta do a load anyway,” he stated, not letting Karkat get a word in to object.  


 

Not wanting to make this any more awkward than it already was, he slid off his jeans and handed them carefully to Gamzee, who unceremoniously tucked them under his arm and turned to leave.  


 

“I'll be back in a few,” he said, leaving the bathroom and leaving Karkat to wonder why he would be coming back at all.  


 

After a few minutes of standing around awkwardly with his pants off, he figured Gamzee had gotten distracted (which was a very common occurrence) and wouldn't be returning. Slipping off his soiled boxers and shirt, which he just let hit the floor, he climbed into the large bathtub, er, ablution trap, and sunk down into the water, milky with heat, until it reached his chin. Why Gamzee chose a block with such a spacious trap, he would never know.  


 

After another moment of near relation, he heard the door click open, and turned to see Gamzee in the nude. With a violent spasm, Karkat's head swung in the opposite direction, trying to erase what he had just seen.  


 

“GAMZEE, WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU DOING?”  


 

“Told ya I'd be back, bro. I never pass up the chance for a good soak.” And, as though it was totally normal for two six-sweep-old boys to be sharing a bath, he climbed in at the opposite end and sunk up to his nose, his paint trailing off into the water.  


 

Karkat no longer cared about why Gamzee had chosen this spacious trap, but he was sure glad he had. There was just enough space for them to both sit without their legs tangling into some gangly gray mess, but it was still strange when either would stretch and brush against the other.  


 

After a long silence, Gamzee sighed.  


 

“So, best friend, what's got you all motherfuckin' up and bothered that you're straight freakin' out?”  


 

“I didn't understand half of what you just said, but I'm fine. I just...I must have fallen asleep for a second like a fucking idiot and-”  


 

“Hey,” Gamzee interrupted, “no best bro of mine is gonna talk about himself like that. Just cause you were all sopor-pied, I mean, sopor-eyed don't mean you're fuckin' stupid or nothin'. We all get motherfuckin' tired sometimes. You know what I mean?”  


 

“Yeah, but we're not supposed to sleep. Especially not me. I'm the one who's supposed to be looking after all of your inconsiderate asses.”  


 

“Nah, I get what our sayin'. Still, I think cause you're the fuckin' leader and shit doesn' mean you gotta be perfect. You got a lotta shit to look after and any motherfucker is gonna be tired after what you gotta do.”  


 

“That's not excuse. I still shouldn't have fallen asleep. What would have happened if I was asleep and something crazy happened, like everyone started killing each other? I mean, it sounds stupid not but I have to be on the alert for anything that can happen. And seeing as how just about everyone on the fucking rock is a total fuckass, present company excluded, I have a lot to worry about.”  


 

“But you worry too much, bro. You gotta loosen up sometimes. We can take care of our own selves in the motherfucker.”  


 

“Yeah, because that went so well in our session,” Karkat sighed in frustration.  


 

“I know you want things to be all good, and you got good reasons to be worried about shit, but sometimes you just gotta let the miracles make themselves, best friend. Not every rainbow's gonna spring up just cause you're parking a leprechaun near a rainstorm.”  


 

“I have no idea what that means,” Karkat settled into the water again, “but I guess I understand what you're trying to say.”  


 

“All right, best friend,” he gave a wide smile and leaned forward with his arms outstretched for a hug, forgetting that the both of them were sans clothes.  


 

Karkat responded by shifting and saying that he was starting to prune, cluing Gamzee in that it was time to get out. Pulling the plug and getting out, he held out a shirt and pants for Karkat, who had his hand over his eyes to stop from accidentally looking again at things he never meant to see. Makara left him to dress in the bathroom and headed into the bedroom to pick out something for himself to wear.  


 

Karkat felt very strange wearing the clothes of another troll. He was so used to his own attire and it was almost imperceptibly uncomfortable to be drowned in that baggy shirt and sweats. Gamzee chose his clothes to be big on him, and considering that he had a few inches on Vantas, the exaggerated oversize seemed doubled now. Even the neck hole was stretched out from getting past those wavy horns of his, and it nearly hung off Karkat's shoulder. He also wasn't used to the feeling of his arms bared to the open, bringing a sense of nakedness that ached him.  


 

Finally, after a moment of situating his baggy duds, and figuring that Gamzee was now at least mostly clothed, the Cancer left the bathroom. Out in the main area of the block, Gamzee was indeed only half-naked, neglecting to put on a shirt. He was lounging on a quite impressive pile of horns, which gasped out quiet honks whenever he shifted. Beckoning with one hand, Gamzee was soon joined by Karkat, who grumbled at the loud sound of him flopping down onto the horns.  


 

Though at any other time he would have protested, Vantas didn't even growl when Gamzee put his arm around him and pulled Karkat close. He was embarrassed and tired and and cranky and he needed this. It's not like anyone was there to see. With that very thought, a new wave of shame washed over him.  


 

“It's going to be a fucking nightmare after Eridan tells everyone what happened,” he said into Gamzee's chest.  


 

The indigo-blood just tussled his hair and traced circles around Karkat's horns to calm him. “Don't worry. He's not gonna tell any motherfucker what he saw.”  


 

“Of course he is. He's Eridan.”  


 

“Nah, he knows not to tell. You're my motherfuckin' best friend and if he messes with you, he's messing with me. He's not gonna say a word. And you know I'm not gonna say anything either.”  


 

“Thanks.”  


 

“No problem, best-”  


 

“No, I mean thanks for everything. Thanks for the clothes and getting me out of there and making me feel better and...I guess,” he swallowed nervously, “just thanks for being my best friend.”  


 

“Aw, you're gonna make a motherfucker cry, bro, come here.” He hugged Karkat tightly to his chest and ruffled his hair some more, until Vantas couldn't keep from laughing and play-pushing him away. Gamzee responded by hooking Karkat's neck in his arm and pushing him down into the horn pile, both of them wrestling boyishly for a moment until they settled down again, chuckling lightly.  


 

Snuggling up together, Karkat couldn't keep from smiling. Whatever worries and responsibilities that weighed him down had been lifted, even if it was only for a few sparse moments. And then, just as it always happened, he remembered exactly why Gamzee was his best friend. 


End file.
